TSG data collected during Tara Oceans expedition (2009-2012) QC validation process and SSS/SST data analysis

The Tara Oceans expedition started in Lorient in September 2009 and ended in the same French harbour in
march 2012, crossing a good part of the World Ocean : Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, North and South Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans .
A thermosalinograph (TSG , Seabird SB45) and a temperature sensor (SBE38) have been recording sea surface
temperature (SST) and salinity(SSS) during the whole cruise .
154 hydrographical stations have been achieved along the cruise, providing 675 CTD profiles to a maximum
depth of 1000m. The CTD rosette was a Seabird 9plus system with double C and T sensors, which have been
regularly factory calibrated during the expedition .CTD profiles have been processed and QC validated by the
the LOV team (Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche) . Details about this validation process appear in
references [1],[2],[3].
Raw TSG data (recorded at 0.1 Hz) have been processed using pre and post campaign calibrations;.
Those calibrated data have been then filtered and median averaged every 5 mn for the 1rst year (Lorient to Cape
town) and every 1mn for the rest of the cruise (Cape Town to Lorient).
They have been compared to SSS and SST averaged from surface bins of each CTD profile ( when available) .
For those CTD profiles who were validated as significant for intercomparison , TSG data have been corrected
from the (CTD-TSG) differences.
Through this full process, Quality Controlled (QC) data for SSS and SST have been produced and are presented
in this report following a geographical/chronological schedule:
Chapter 1: Data processing and analysis from Lorient to Cape Town (2009-2010). Methodology for the 5mn
data processing and results.
Chapter 2: Data processing and analysis from Cape town to Lorient (2010-2012). New methodology for the
1mn data processing and results for the South Atlantic leg.
Chapter 3: Data analysis from Ushuaia to Tahiti, including Antarctica, Patagonian Channels, Galapagos leg and
STEFI experiment (Marquises Isl.)
Chapter 4: Data analysis from Tahiti to San Diego, through Hawaii
Chapter 5: Data analysis from San Diego to Savannah, through Panama Canal.
Chapter 6: Data analysis from Savannah to Lorient, through New York and Atlantic Islands
Chapter 7: Technical appendix : Seabird Calibration reports and hardware configurations for SBE45 and SBE38.
Final LOV report on CTD profiles validation .